Xue? Family Temple and Tomb

　　Xue? Family Temple and Tomb (Third Batch Provincial Protected Site)

　　Era: Ming Dynasty

　　Address: Pingyuan Village, Liwang Township, Wanrong County

　　Xue? (1389–1464), a scholar of the Ming Dynasty. His courtesy name was Dewen, literary name Jing?, and posthumous name Zhenzi. He was a native of Pingyuan Village, Liwang Township, Ruijin County (now Wanrong). He served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and was posthumously honored with the title "Wenqing." A follower of the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism, he was known as a representative of the "He Dong School." His major work is the Complete Collected Works of Xue Wenqing. The village houses the "Xue Master Family Temple" and his former residence.

　　The family temple originally had front and rear courtyards; only the front courtyard remains. It faces north and is situated to the south, measuring 31.6 meters in length from north to south and 13.4 meters in width from east to west. Inside the temple are 1,080 wooden printing blocks of the Complete Collected Works of Xue Wenqing, carved in the 43rd year of the Wanli era (1615) of the Ming Dynasty. There are also two stone steles from the Ming Dynasty and one engraved portrait stele of Xue?. Three wooden couplets are preserved, one of which was written by Fu Shan. The former residence faces east and is situated to the west, measuring 14 meters in length from north to south and 11.8 meters in width from east to west. The western room has three bays in width and one bay in depth. It remains well-preserved.

　　The “Wenqing Ancestral Tomb” is located 300 meters west of the village. It faces north and is situated to the south, featuring, from north to south, a brick screen wall, a memorial archway, horse-tying stone pillars, stone tigers, stone sheep, and stone horses. The tomb site stretches 160 meters from north to south and 101 meters from east to west. It is surrounded by an earthen wall. Nineteen stone steles from the Ming Dynasty and over a hundred tombs remain. Xue?’s tomb is located on the eastern side of the site, with a mound 1.50 meters high and a circumference of 18 meters. It is well-preserved.